New mirrors for the B2200 results in shaved locks

Saturday, the Mazda made it to his first show. The truck really isn’t show ready but I felt he should get some practice at a small, local show before heading 503 miles to Shawnee for the Severed Ties 25th reunion at Slamboree.

He did not win anything, but didn’t expect to. His paint is still rough and interior was in even worse shape. He did get some respect on the engine swap. Lots of people looking under his hood.

I am still struggling to keep him cool. Making progress but not to the level I want. He is very drivable. Issues are when I shut him off on 100 degree days.

Back to the reason for this article. I hate those stock mirrors. He is no longer a farm truck and was never meant to pull a trailer. He gets to ride on the trailer, not pull them. The mirrors have to go.

On Saturday the doors looked fine. Well, by Sunday afternoon, they were looking pretty rough.

Removing mirrors is normally a simple process but in this case, the issue was the exposed hole in both doors.

I ground out the nut allowing you to bolt the mirror on and the area around it. There is no way to fix it and not paint the door. If I have to paint the door, then I might as well get rid of the door lock.

I am not shaving the door handles. Yes, everyone did it in the 90’s, including me. I have been there, done that and learned not to do it again! Im only removing the door lock. That will be enough to show a smoother cleaner line.

This time, I just put the filler panel on the inside and welded it up. Im not sure why I did it this way. It seemed like it would be easier. I am still not sure if it is best to make a filler piece that sits flush or just put one inside like this. Both seem to work fine. I will say, this way is much easier to weld.

I ground the welds smooth and then covered with body filler. This door was in very good shape with only a few small dents along the bottom.

I am still torn on removing the door or not. It is perfectly aligned and I am not sure I can get it back on there as well as the factory so I chose not to.

While welding it, I covered the glass in cardboard. I have trashed enough windows to last my lifetime. I covered and taped off the fenders and cab. For extra protection I will hand sand the areas close to them.

Got everything to what seems to be smooth. Time for the base primer. Wonder how many more dents will appear?

After the first blocking it still seemed pretty smooth. I only found one small dent.

Then repeated the same process on the other side.

Finished block sanding the doors and added the final color. First two coats laid on like glass. Then of course, I go too light on the last coat and get orange peel. I know it will buff out with a little effort but Grrrr.

This shot shows a few flaws. It tried to fish eye a little. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will buff out.

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Gordon French

Gordon French was born in Wyoming in 1978. He is married to Tiffany French. He has two children Halie and Zac. His first passion of course family with cars coming in a very close second. View all posts by Gordon French